Any interest in a deer hunting tournament?

[gtodave]

I mentioned in the other thread that I used to be part of a hunting tourney every year. It was among friends, so there was a lot of trust to go around, and to be honest, I'm not sure how well that would go over with a bunch of guys who barely know each other, but I figured I'd see if there was interest first.

It would go like this: We get a number of guys (I'm used to the 10-15 range, but really it could be any amount). Each person puts in $100ish (again, could really be any amount we agree on). We assign points to deer to determine who wins. The way we did it before was each inch of antler counted as one point, and each pound of doe counted as one point, with 10 bonus points for over 100 lb dressed weight (and an additional 10 for 110, 120, ect). Total up the points at the end of the season, and divvy out the money however we determine.

We allowed two bucks and up to 8 does. The high number of does was to offset the guys who were guaranteed to kill a 150"+ buck every year. You had to kill two does before the second buck, so no doubling-up. The buck had to score 120". If it was less, you got a 50 point deduction (there's a reason for the minimum, but it might not apply to us and could be eliminated). Also, you got deductions for shot-but-lost deer (festers), and button bucks. So there's a lot of honesty required (as it would be easy to never tell anyone that you didn't find a deer). Deer needed to be checked in with at least one other tourney member to corroborate weight, and antler scoring was typically done by one or two people to keep it consistent.

This would be BOW ONLY. If there was enough interest, you gun hunters could set one up too. Obviously it's too late to set up for this year, but we have plenty of time to plan for next year.

To be honest, I'm not sure if I'd be in or not, since I'm losing my honey-hole and haven't had much interest the last couple of years, but something like this could motivate me to get another good spot and hunt more. I certainly hunted MUCH harder when I was in this tourney...I actually came in second one year and bought myself an AR-10 with the winnings (I missed out on first because of a button buck I thought was a doe )

So anyways, poll is up. Yes or no?

 

[ACB]

I would be up for it but i lost my hunting property on the eastern shore we rented for thirty years when O'malley took it from us for "conservation use". right off route 12

if a few of us could find some property to rent and start a club i would be up for that. But i like your idea, exactly how everything would work out lol, we can see.

 

[Afrikeber]

I just heard of a group of guys that are going as a group by boat on the Potomac river islands culling the deer on them and coming back to the Maryland side with a lot of harvested deer.

 

[308Scout]

I just heard of a group of guys that are going as a group by boat on the Potomac river islands culling the deer on them and coming back to the Maryland side with a lot of harvested deer.

Most are probably legit MD deer, though, given the vast majority of islands are in MD.

List of islands on the Potomac River - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Afrikeber]

Most are probably legit MD deer, though, given the vast majority of islands are in MD.

List of islands on the Potomac River - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Yea no doubt it’s legitimate just saying that sounds like a interesting way of harvesting as a group.

The deer are not dumb and know where to go once the shots on the mainland start getting close.

 

[308Scout]

Yea no doubt it’s legitimate just saying that sounds like a interesting way of harvesting as a group.

The deer are not dumb and know where to go once the shots on the mainland start getting close.

Interesting tactic, to be sure. Hope those taking this route aren't shooting while they're in the water swimming back.

 

[Afrikeber]

Interesting tactic, to be sure. Hope those taking this route aren't shooting while they're in the water swimming back.

For sure that’s not sportsmanship at all and illegal.

 

[Biggfoot44]

I can see something like that , for a small number of good friends . But not for MDS .

Here's a counter proposal :

Each deer that the member posts a picture with them and the murder implement here is one entry . Break down to bow , long gun, and handgun if desired .

End of period , random number generator for winner(s) . 50/50 split with MSI Litigation Fund . Good excuse for a meet up to celebrate and hand out Prize(s) .

Not addressed : Did the late Bambi have to reside in Maryland ? We have plenty of out of state members , plus those of us who hunt in adjoining states .

 

[308Scout]

I can see something like that , for a small number of good friends . But not for MDS .

Here's a counter proposal :

Each deer that the member posts a picture with them and the murder implement here is one entry . Break down to bow , long gun, and handgun if desired .

End of period , random number generator for winner(s) . 50/50 split with MSI Litigation Fund . Good excuse for a meet up to celebrate and hand out Prize(s) .

Not addressed : Did the late Bambi have to reside in Maryland ? We have plenty of out of state members , plus those of us who hunt in adjoining states .

That's actually a solid counter. Measurable as well (hell, the annual Bambi whacking thread could be used to verify entries). Sounds like solid grounds for a nice February MDS meetup.

 

[44man]

I like the idea but I don’t bow hunt nor do I get around very well. If it’s state wide it might be hard to implement getting members to verify each others kills also.

But anything that promotes hunters and hunting and camaraderie is a good idea.

 

[lazarus]

For sure that’s not sportsmanship at all and illegal.

I've always been curious what counts as taking shelter in water. Swimming for sure is. But is a deer crossing a creek? I've always assumed no, it needs to effectively be swimming along to be considered taking shelter in water.

Never been in a situation where that really mattered. NRP can come cite me if I did wrong, I've shot a doe once that was in a creek bed, but it was putting her down after an earlier bad shot and she was all of 2" deep in the water. I have deer cross my creek all the time, but they are too far from my stand to take a shot at them with a bow and they rarely stop in the creek. Again, where they cross the water is about 2" deep.

 

[Doco Overboard]

I think primarily what they're after is not hunting or shooting at them once they have taken to water.
Like engaged in swimming across a creek, river, branch, pond or estuary.
Lots of deer are taken in waterborne environments locally.
Lots of deer are lost in waterborne environments too.
They sink right below the surface and are difficult to locate.